Anemone plant named ‘Party Dress’

ABSTRACT

A distinct cultivar of Anemone plant named ‘Party Dress’, characterized by its full and densely foliated form; mounded plant habit; showy flowers with numerous pink-colored sepals; and excellent garden performance.

BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION/CULTIVAR DESIGNATION

Anemone×hybrida cultivar Party Dress.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Anemoneplant, botanically known as Anemone×hybrida and hereinafter referred toby the name ‘Party Dress’.

The new Anemone was discovered by the Inventor as a chance seedling froma random cross-pollination of two unnamed selections of Anemone×hybrida,not patented. The new Anemone was selected by the Inventor in 1997 in acontrolled environment in Hewlett, N.Y. The selection of this plant wasbased on its large pink flowers.

Asexual reproduction of the new Anemone by divisions and by cuttingstaken in a controlled environment in Hewlett, N.Y., since spring, 1998,has shown that the unique features of this new Anemone are stable andreproduced true to type in successive generations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The cultivar Party Dress has not been observed under all possibleenvironmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat withvariations in environment such as temperature, daylength and lightintensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.

The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined tobe the unique characteristics of ‘Party Dress’. These characteristics incombination distinguish ‘Party Dress’ as a new and distinct cultivar:

1. Full and densely foliated; mounded plant habit.

2. Showy flowers with numerous pink-colored sepals.

3. Excellent garden performance.

Plants of the new Anemone differ from plants of the parent selectionsprimarily in flower size and sepal coloration as plants of the parentselections have smaller flowers and lighter pink sepals than plants ofthe new Anemone.

Plants of the new Anemone can be compared to plants of the cultivar LadyGilmore, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted by theInventor in Hewlett, N.Y., plants of the new Anemone differed fromplants of the cultivar Lady Gilmore in the following characteristics:

1. Plant of the new Anemone were taller and stronger than plant habit ofplants of the cultivar Lady Gilmore.

2. Plants of the new Anemone had larger flowers than plants of thecultivar Lady Gilmore.

3. Sepal color of plants of the new Anemone flower was darker pink thansepal color of plants of the cultivar Lady Gilmore.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS

The accompanying colored photographs illustrate the overall appearanceof the new Anemone, showing the colors as true as it is reasonablypossible to obtain in colored reproductions of this type. Colors in thephotographs may differ slightly from the color values cited in thedetailed botanical description which accurately describe the colors ofthe new Anemone.

The photograph at the top of the sheet comprises a side perspective viewof a typical plant of ‘Party Dress’ just before flower development.

The photograph at the bottom of the sheet comprises a close-up view of atypical flower stem of ‘Party Dress’.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

In the following description, color references are made to The RoyalHorticultural Society Colour Chart except where general terms ofordinary dictionary significance are used. The following observationsand measurements describe plants grown in Keller, Tex. during the summerand fall outdoors under full sunlight and cultural conditions whichapproximate commercial practice. Plants used for the photographs anddescriptions were grown as single plants in one-gallon containers andwere about one year old. Measurements and numerical values representaverages taken from a group of flowering plants.

Botanical classification: Anemone×hybrida cultivar Party Dress.

Parentage:

Female, or seed, parent.—Unnamed selection of Anemone×hybrida, notpatented.

Male, or pollen, parent.—Unnamed selection of Anemone×hybrida, notpatented.

Propagation:

Type.—By terminal cuttings.

Time to initiate roots.—About 14 days at 23° C.

Time to produce a rooted cutting.—About 30 days at 23° C.

Root description.—Fine and well-branched.

Plant description:

Appearance.—Perennial; basal rosette plant habit with leaves developingfrom the base; densely foliated; full, mounded plant habit with uprightpeduncles with showy flowers with pink-colored sepals. Moderatelyvigorous.

Plant size.—Height: Soil level to top of foliar plane: About 17 cm. Soillevel to top of flowering stems: About 46 cm. Diameter or spread: About37 cm.

Foliage description.—Arrangement: Basal rosette; leaves simple orcompound leaves with three leaflets. Stem leaves on peduncles in asingle whorl remote from the flowers; occasionally a single leafsubtending a flower; stem leaves are similar to immature simple leavesin all horticultural characteristics. Simple leaves: Length: About 7 cm.Width: About 6.5 cm. Shape: Roughly ovate, three-lobed. Terminalleaflets: Length: About 6.6 cm. Width: About 5.3 cm. Shape: Roughlyovate, three-lobed. Lateral leaflets: Length: About 6.2 cm. Width: About4.6 cm. Shape: Roughly ovate, asymmetrically lobed. Apex, simple leavesand compound leaflets: Acute to acuminate. Base: Simple leaves: Cordate,lobes not overlapping. Compound leaflets: Terminal leaflets, attenuate;lateral leaflets, oblique. Margin, simple leaves and compound leaflets:Serrate. Texture, simple leaves and compound leaflets: Upper surface:Sparsely pubescent, rough. Lower surface: Pubescence along veins, rough.Venation pattern, simple leaves and compound leaflets: Palmate. Color,simple leaves and compound leaflets: Young foliage, upper surface: Closeto 146A. Young foliage, lower surface: Close to 147B. Mature foliage,upper surface: Close to 147A. Mature foliage, lower surface: Close to147B underlain with random spots and areas of anthocyanin, close to187A. Venation, upper surface: Closest to 147A to 147B. Venation, lowersurface: Closest to 147B to 147C. Petiole: Compound leaflets sessile.Length: About 15.5 cm. Diameter: About 2 mm. Strength: Moderatelystrong; flexible and wiry. Texture: Pubescent. Color: 144A to 146A;towards plant base, faintly overlain with anthocyanin, close to 187A.

Flower description:

Appearance/arrangement.—Single flowers arranged on two or three branchedpeduncles; each flowering stem with about six flowers and flower buds;about four to six flowering stems develop during the flowering season.Flowers not persistent. Flowers not fragrant.

Time of flowering.—Under outdoor conditions, plant flower during thelate summer.

Flower longevity.—About one week on the plant.

Flower size.—Diameter: About 6 cm. Depth (height): About 2.5 cm.

Flower buds (before showing color).—Height: About 8 mm. Diameter: About8 mm. Shape: Spherical. Color: More green than 146A.

Petals.—Absent.

Sepals.—Quantity/arrangement: About 57 arranged in about four whorls,radially symmetrical. Length: About 3 cm. Width: About 1.25 cm. Shape:Elongated oblong to somewhat obovate. Apex: Acute to emarginate. Margin:Entire. Texture: Glabrous. Color: When opening, upper and lowersurfaces: Close to 75A. Fully opened, upper and lower surfaces: Groundcolor, close to 155D, overlain with 77A mostly towards the margins andapices.

Bracts.—Quantity/arrangement: Five at base of flower. Length: About 2cm. Width: About 1 cm. Shape: Roughly ovate. Apex: Acute. Base:Attenuate, sessile. Margin: Entire. Texture: Upper surface: Smooth,waxy. Lower surface: Pubescent. Color: Upper surface: Close to 146A.Lower surface: More green than 146A.

Peduncle.—Strength: Moderately strong; flexible and wiry. Aspect: Mostlyerect. Length: About 31.5 cm. Diameter: About 3.5 mm. Texture:Pubescent. Color: 146A overlain with anthocyanin, close to 187A.

Pedicels.—Strength: Moderately strong; flexible and wiry. Aspect: Erectto about 20° from vertical. Length: About 18 cm. Diameter: About 2 mm.Texture: Pubescent. Color: 146A, occasionally overlain with faintanthocyanin, close to 187A.

Reproductive organs.—Androecium: Stamen number per flower: More than120. Filament length: About 4 mm. Filament diameter: Less than 1 mm.Filament color: Close to 155D. Anther shape: Ovoid. Anther size: About 2mm by 1 mm. Anther color: 15A. Amount of pollen: None observed.Gynoecium: Pistil number per flower: More than 50. Pistil length: Lessthan 1 mm. Stigma shape: Rounded. Stigma color: 144A. Style color: Closeto 144A to 144B. Ovary color: Close to 144A.

Seed/fruit.—Seed/fruit production has not been observed.

Disease/pest resistance: Resistance to pathogens and pests common toAnemone has not been observed on plants grown under commercialconditions.

Weather tolerance: Plants of the new Anemone have demonstrated goodtolerance to rain, wind, and temperatures ranging from −10° C. to 45° C.

It is claimed:
 1. A new and distinct cultivar of Anemone plant named ‘Party Dress’, as illustrated and described. 